June 2006 Mommies - Getting to know our new babies!

[Mystikal]

Quick post - Julia had her six month appt on Thursday.
She weighed in at 17.7 pounds and 26.5 inches long. 75% for both. :) She's doing great.

[IzzyJune2006]

Quick post as well...

On the 23rd I felt DD's first tooth. She's been crabby ever since it seems.

We travelled for Xmas. The flights were bearable but challenging. She did pretty good. At my sis', we kept her naps consistent and things went well. She has been sick since our return, coughing and runny nose. Her voice had taken a hit too, so her crying is softer.

We are still working on sleep training. Keeping fingers crossed that we can make progress.

[Baby Lust]

6 month WBV: Totally forgot to post Lucas's stats!
16 lbs 4 oz
27 1/2"

Separation anxiety: Yup, Lucas doesn't want to be in a room alone, even for a minute, and when he sees me walk by or leave the room, he cries.

Teeth: I am expecting the bottom two teeth to come in any time. He has been quite fussy lately, which is totally unlike him and he's chewing on everything! I'm gonna miss his gummy smile though! :(

Sleeping: I am working on sleep training too. His ped thinks the CIO method is the best/fastest/most effective way, but I just can't do it and don't think it's right. So we are trying other things.

Supply: My supply has been better and it's getting easier to keep up with Lucas's appetite and I am able to freeze quite a bit every weekend. I wish 1 pumping session would = a bottle but it doesn't (yet).

Solids: For some reason, Lucas is so not into baby food. He doesn't really like it and could go forever without eating it. But then when we eat, he looks at us like "aren't you gonna share that with me???" and it makes me feel so bad but he just won't have the solids! Which is totally fine with me because he is doing great on BM but that pang of guilt gets me every time! :rolleyes:

Crawling: Not yet, but he's getting there! Part of me wants him to and part of me doesn't (the selfish part!). I'm sure it won't be long! He loves to sit and stand. I can prop him up to the couch and he can stand there by himself forever! He even lets go with one hand and gets this "Look at me, mom!!" look on his face and it's SO cute!! :p

#2: DH and I talked about TTC #2 in April (or so), depending on what was going on in our lives at that time. But we want kids closer together (at least we think we do now) so we'll see.


Hope everyone has a happy new year with your little ones!

[shaqangel]

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

our babies will turn ONE this year...something about that makes me sad though but i keep thinking how fun its going to be to have him running around:)

we had a great christmas on the 25th - it was a busy stopping by friends homes. our family christmas was on the 28th. my parents came in and omg it was so incredibly sweet when we picked them up at the airport. Javan recognized their voices and when my mum got him he just smiled at her and grabbed onto her face and when my dad talked with him he looked at him curiously, smiled and then reached out for him. made me melt for sure. it was the first time my dad met Javan in person. its been wonderful and we are having a super time. i'm at work today and they are babysitting - loving every minute of it!!! i'm NOT looking fwd to this week-end when they leave.

i'll be back soon but just wanted to wish you all a fantastic 2007 - glad christmas was fun for everyone and the traveling went well.

[Ryan]

Happy New year girls...

Shaq: I am with you on our babies turning one.. so sad and scary all at the same time.

Crawling: Emily started on New Years Eve.. I could not believe my eyes.. I started to get all choked up.. it was so darn funny and cute all at the same time... :)

Teeth: Emily has had both bottom teeth since the week before Halloween.. but I am thinking more are coming because her drool is so much worse.. just waiting on the top front 2.

Well another year of holidays down the hatch... have a great day!

Jbenny: I did the samething re: Santa.. I am so upset I totally did not get around to it... :(

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

I hope everyone had a good & safe holiday. Ours was low key. Brian was asleep by 11 and me by 11:30 :/ Very exciting.

I posted a few days ago but lost it :( I don't remember all of it, but do remember that I did answer a QOTD about a 2nd or 3rd. Brian and I had this discussion on our way down to VA. We ALWAYS said 2 but right after Troi was born I knew immediately I wanted another. We discussed it briefly because Brian thought it was the hormones, well it wasn't. I still want a third.

So we had the discussion. I can't explain it, but there is something in my being that feels I am meant to have 3. I guess it's cause I have 3 angel babies but I want 3. Brian is ok with another, but he doesn't want to have our own, he wants to adopt a 2 year old girl. He doesn't want me to go through the pg, he doesn't want me to go through the labor, he doens't want me to go through the poopie diapers, he doesn't want me to go through the sleepless nights or the drool or anything associated with a newborn. He wants a child Nikolas' age, that is ready to learn and almost self sufficient. Notice all those he's cause it really is all him. I don't mind those things.

I think that may be the only way we're going to have another. He's insistent on adopting and won't budge. I will see about a comprismise, and maybe he'll agree to adopt a 1 year old girl. There are agencies out there that let you choose the sex if you already have children.

We'll discuss our own in a few months and if he's still adament about not having one, they'll we'll discuss adoption when Troi is about 18 months so they can pretty much all be spaced apart equally. I don't want to wait 4 or 5 years to have another.


Anyway, Troi seems to have a bump on the lower right side of his gum so we may be seeing a tooth soon. However there hasn't been any drool or fusiness so I'm not too sure. Brian told me that on Saturday he saw him cruising in his crib :eek: I have yet to see it so I'm not saying 100% he is.

So my new job is playing ref during play time. I have to keep Troi froming touching the Diego stuff or anything he can get hurt with but at the same time making sure Nikolas doesn't mess with some of Troi's stuff and trying to get them to share too. Play time is very exhausting :/


Well it seems nap and snack time are over. Have a great day.

[amurphy]

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a nice holiday!
It sure has been hectic in my household these last few weeks. We flew to my Mom's for Christmas, which was so much easier than making the five hour drive. D was awesome in the airport and on the plane.

We had a great Christmas--it was so cool seeing D with my brother's three kids. Made me smile. My parents still buy for me like I'm a kid who needs a pile of gifts on Christmas morning, but who am I to complain, right?! I think my best gift though was from my DH--a weekly cleaning service! I'm so excited.

The only bad thing about the vacation was D's sleep. He went from a cheeful baby to a screeching maniac at night. He slept in two hour stretches and would wake up screeching and arching his back. I'm pretty sure he was having stomach/poo issues. I put him in the tub to relax him and he started to poo! (I guess it worked.) I took him out of the tub really quickly and sat him on the toilet while waiting for my DH to come help us out. It was so funny seeing our little baby use the potty. The expression on his face was priceless. :eek:

We went up to Vermont for new year's weekend, which again spelled trouble for our little guy. He had a cough when we left the house on Friday afternoon and developed a fever that night. We called the pediatrician at 2:30 in the morning when we discovered that D had a 102.9 temp. Luckily, the fever broke fairly quickly. We came home on Sunday afternoon and he was well enough that I felt okay leaving him with my ILs while DH and I went to a party. He was pretty good for them--mostly slept.

He now has a runny nose, cough, and is sleeping a lot. He keeps throwing up all the mucus that he coughs up. Yuck. It is hard seeing my boy so lethargic when he is usually so animated. DH stayed home with him yesterday but I brought D to daycare today since he seemed a lot better this morning. I can't wait to pick him up though and see how he is doing. (I do hate to see him so sad/sick but it is kinda cute that he has been even more of a snuggle bug these last few days.)

The only other news I have is that DH quit his job to take a position with my FIL's company. The job change will allow DH to leave the house later in the morning and come home earlier in the evening (and help out more with the baby). The only bad part is that DH can't take the train into work anymore so we bought a new car last night. DH gets the Mini and I'm now driving the Volvo XC--the "Mommy mobile." :D

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

I can't believe how long it has been since I checked in!! Even the CC format has changed!!

Collin is doing great. He had his 6 month appointment last week and he is 22lbs they didn't tell me his length but said the 75th percentile for both.

He got his two front teeth for Christmas and is working on a top one all within 1 week... So we are going through hell with the poor guy. He's just super clingy and wants his mommy. In fact he says Momma Ma and Mom. Not intentionally but it still soooo great to hear.

Also he can crawl about a foot or two and then loses coordination and can't get back into it. We got him lots of toys for Christmas to encourage him to crawl.

As far as #2 goes- I still don't have a craving for another one. I am still on the plan of the IUD for 5 years just to be safe and then snip snip. If we do decide to have another I think that we would still adopt like plan. Eventhough my pregnancy/labor was really easynon-eventful I just don't see myself going through it again. It's like I got so lucky the first time why chance it.

AF- I've had a day of spotting about once a month which I had through out my pregnancy anyways but I have my first visit in years this week. It's super light but I forgot how awful the cramps are.

Food- Collin has had his introduction to all the baby foods. I let him practice with Pizza crust, crackers, you name it. He is a really good little eater. Go figure with his size.

I have some updated pics of Collin. I'll have to go online tonight and get them for you. He has such a huge head! My parents just got a min pin and we call them Pinky and the Brain just cause Collin's head is so diproportionate to the rest of him.

Collin also still has no hair, just a lil white patch which I trimmed this weekend since it was soooo much longer than the rest of his fuzz and it kept sticking straight up.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Hope everyone is doing good. We had really nice weather here yesterday, 70 degrees so we took the boys to the park. Troi went on the baby swing for the first time. He liked it but was more fascinated by his shadow.

I come here with great fear in my voice to report that Troi started cruising yesterday. I really thought Brian was mistaken, but he cruised the legnth of the couch to get to me and my food :/ I haven't seen him do it since, but that was enough for me. Just another thing that makes me realize my little boy is growing up way too fast :(

I've started putting the slip proof socks on him now too. I think that may have helped him cruise yesterday. A part of me wants to take them off of him, but he'd fall so I can't.

Now if I could just get Nikolas potty trained and to share his toys life would be set.

Well gonna run, snack time is over. Talk to you later.

[steviem]

Happy New Year ladies!

We had one heck of a week last week. Owen had his first major cold, which has now turned into a cough. He also had his first fever (102). It was scary. He was so cranky, and clingly last week. I am not joking when I say I only got 3 hrs of sleep per night. It was totally awful. DH also was sick, so wasn't able to help much. This was the first time in the 6 months that my little man has been around that I thought I was going to loose it. I was so overly tired and not feeling great myself....... I just felt like running away. Owen had to be held constantly! I'd finally get him to sleep and try to lay him down and wham..... he'd immediately wake up screaming. Man oh man.......

And I have an awful confession to make. One night, I just couldn't take it anymore. I put him in his crib and he began to cry and cry and cry. After a few mintues, I yelled from my room, "SHUT UP!" I felt so guilty, like the worst mom in the world. DH woke up and confirmed that I was bad :( He reminded me again in the morning how inappropriate I was. I tried to explain that I was working on no sleep for the last few days and that I just couldn't take it......anyway, I still feel guilty about it.

Owen had his first plane ride on Saturday. We flew in a 10-seater plane up to Montery (Calif) for a baby shower. I was really worried about his ears, especially after being sick but his ped said it should be okay, especially since it was only a quick flight (45 minutes). He did really well, thankfully.

Some updates:

Teeth: He has 2 on the bottom which came in about a month ago. He really had no major symptoms, other than major drooling.

Solids: Owen has been eating solids since 4 months. He loves everything, especially blueberries and sweet potatoes.

Crawling: Not yet. He rolls over really well and does the "Superman Flying" pose but he can't quite figure out how to tuck his legs under him in order to crawl. He scooches around the floor a lot and will even wiggle his way down me when I am holding him while sitting on the couch.

Sitting Up: He has really good balance and can sit by himself, for the most part. He can't get into the upright position on his own, however.

#2: Yep, I think about it a lot. We think we will try for #2 next September. I'd like to have the same pregnancy cycle as I did with Owen so that I can wear my same PG clothes :) I have to loose 20 lbs before we begin to try so I really need to get my butt in gear. (While I am excited to have more than 1 baby, it scares the heck out of me. I had such a great pregnancy with Owen and he was born healthy, etc..... it just makes me nervous to try for #2, like, my luck will run out or something. Do any of you feel this way?)

Okay, sorry for the long post. I hope you are all doing well. Hug and kiss those babies!! :)

[Niko&Troi]

stevie You are not a horrible mom. You just had a ton of stress at the time. Maybe shut up wasn't the right thing to say, but it could have been so much worse, like hitting. When DH reminded you of what you did, did he also acknowledge that you were taking care of pretty much 2 babies (cause we all know men become babies when they are sick) and he understood?
I had a break down too the other day. They were both crying for my attention and I had to pee, really bad. Troi was crying, Nikolas was yelling mommy and I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Give me a minute, I need to pee". It didn't help, just scared them and then they both cried harder, but I felt better letting it out.
We've all had them sometime, please don't beat yourself up. As long as it's not a daily occurence then you're fine.

[Dan's*Girl]

SteviemPlease don't think your a bad mother, your tired and stressed and I can relate 100%!!
Last week was rough. Peyton was sick with his first cold/ear infection combo. DH was sick and I was getting over a cold. We were taking turns sleeping a hour at a time since Peyton was up and down all night for 3 nights straight. On the 3rd night it was something like 3am and he was screaming bloody murder and nothing I was doing would soothe him. I held him up face to face and said" I love you, but this is rediculous and right now you have got to BE QUIET!" in a really stern voice. Of course it made him cry harder and I put him in his bed and left the room to sit on the couch and cry. I was so tired and he wasnt making it better. By morning he was all smiles and hugging on me.
It happens to ALL OF US at one time or another so please dont worry ok?

HUGS!

[jbenny75]

steviem It's hard not to feel guilty and like the worst mother in the world, but it seems like we've all had those moments. We aren't saints, we're only human!! Last week, I was sick and tired-b/c of DH's work schedule, he couldn't help me with DS while I was sick. I was trying to feed DS his dinner, and he was just whining and whining in his highchair. I said, "DS, NOW STOP!" I didn't yell at him, but I did say it loudly. He stopped, looked up at me with these big hurt eyes, and began to cry. I had scared him, of course. My heart fell into pieces. I felt like the lowest human being on the planet. I scooped him up and hugged him and he seemed to forgive me. Something good did come out of it, though. I think I'll remember how bad it made me feel and it will remind me to just bite my tongue in the future.

Speaking of mommy guilt. DS has begun to have some issues going to sleep that are related to me rocking him to sleep all the time. He is fighting to stay awake to be with me. I mean, the kid is going to be a wrestler. Sometimes, he is thrashing around so much that I can barely keep a hold of him. At the same time, I know that it's time for a nap and I know that he's tired (sleep cues). Sometimes when I do get him to sleep, he wakes up the minute he hits the crib. It's time for him to learn to go to sleep by himself. Now, this is totally my fault. I've known all along that I should be putting him down drowsy but awake. When he was younger, I could put him down that way and he'd roll right over on his side and go to sleep. I was doing some rocking as part of the sleep routine and somewhere along the line, he began falling asleep during the rocking. I really loved rocking him and staring at this beautiful sleeping baby and cuddling him in my arms. So, it's my fault. I don't want to do CIO, so I've been following another suggestion in Weissbluth's book, which is to put the baby down, then if he's crying, check and console at 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, and so on. DS has done really well. The first night it took him about 10 minutes to go to sleep. The second night it was about the same. The third night, I scrapped it because we hit fifteen minutes and I felt too guilty. This morning, he needed a nap, but wouldn't go down. I put him in his crib with his lovey, his binky, his blanket and turned on the aquarium. He didn't cry at all, so I didn't go in to him. He babbled and played for about twenty minutes before he fell asleep. Even though he was obviously content for those twenty minutes, it is KILLING me that I let him in there alone. I feel like such a neglectful mother. But at the same time, I know that he needs to be able to go to sleep on his own. I really think it's as important as proper nutrition to get good rest. How do I balance that with the guilt of leaving him in his crib alone? I think I'd just better get used to feeling guilty. I'll probably be feeling guilty for one thing or another for the next 18 years!!

[Pink_Converse]

We're dealing with our first cold/cough too. On top of that I am VERY sick with a cold/cough and diarrhea and vomitting. I am so weak and tired. DH took over when he got home last night but in the middle of the night duties were pretty much mine since Dh works and I don't. I don't know what's wrong with me. I went to the Dr. yesterday but I didn't have the horrible dia. and vomitting then so I didn't tell him those. He just gave me antiobiotics and some cough syrup. DH had the stomach issues for one day and then it was over so we thought he just had a 24 hr bug or food poisoning but whatever it was he spread it to me and I am praying DS d.oesn't get it too. That would be awful!

Losing temper- Most of us are probably guilty of this and we all probably feel like the worst moms in the world but we can't ALL BE, can we?;)

[Luxia]

Hello! I hope you don't mind me joining in here! I'm Lisa. My daugher Kaya was born June 28th, 2006.

I look forward to getting to know you all.

A bit about my girl....

She was big when she was born at 9 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches. She's currently 19 lbs and 27 1/2 inches. We have breastfed from day one and have never had any problems with breastfeeding. She has been healthy and happy. She learns things very quickly.

Teeth: She has two teeth on the bottom. Showed no signs of teething. No drooling, didn't get crabby or anything. We couldn't believe it.

Solids: Started eating solids at 5 1/2 almost 6 months. She loves all fruits so far, likes some veggies. Has also eaten some turkey and chicken. Loves rice cereal or oatmeal with fruit in it.

Crawling: She started crawling around christmas. She's getting into everything. Loves our bookshelves and pulls off every book and looks through them. Laugh. It's super cute. Has started to pull herself up to standing already. I'm so not ready for her to walk yet!

Sitting Up: She's been sitting up since about 4 months. She can now go from sitting up to crawling, to laying down and rolling over. She can also go from crawling to sitting up.

Talking She does say Mum, Mom, and Ma ma. I don't think she relates it to me yet but it's fun to hear it. She makes all sorts of noises and has said Pa Pa once. I'm sure that was an accident because we never say Papa around here.

If you'd like to know anything else let me know. I started a journal here a while ago but just updated it recently. I'll update it more often now if you'd like to read more about us.

A Photo of her with her brother Ashton.

http://images20.fotki.com/v364/photos/7/738763/4425713/christmasak-vi.jpg

[Ryan]

Hey All!!

Baby Em Stats:

(A little late but 6 month check- up)

Weight: 28 lbs and 10 oz
Height: 29 inch (apparently she is going to be tall like her father)

Teeth: 2 on bottom (have been there since Halloween) and the top four are coming at the same time.


Losing temper: I am with you girls I have done it and I have felt COMPLETELY Guilty... but we would not be human if we were happy All the time. DD was in her walker and she was crying and crying and crying.. .for no reason but to be held.. (which she is starting a terrible habit of that... so I am trying to break it) .. and she would not stop so I walked out of the room... and finally I walked back in and said "Stop it" well I scared her and she screamed even louder.. so of course I felt bad and I picked her up... :rolleyes:

[shaqangel]

losing temper and feeling guilty Steviem, you're not alone. i've lost and get so frustrated and just walk away. last night he's whining (cos of teething was so getting to me that i screamed at dh. i feel bad for Javan but i need a break too. Javan seems to want to be held a lot too and dh is trying to break him out of that habit. as soon as you walk by him, he picks his arms up for you to pick him up.

Ryan did u mean to write Em's stats as 18lbs instead of 28? Javan is not too far behind her in height...dh is average height and i am short so not sure where he is getting his height from!

Luxia welcome - your children are beautiful!

teething he's full force into it and i know its miserable for him. he wants to be held alot too. i thought i saw what might be 2 bottom teeth but not so sure yet.

pulling up and crawling he still just scoots on his bottom so no crawling but he is pulling up in full force. has been doing so for over a mth but not its very intentional and he's getting better and better at it. as soon as he gets up he wants to try to step and if you hold his hands he tries to walk.

new pics....

thats my dad in the background! we had these pics taken since they were here visiting.
http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/242981-DSC_0120.jpg

http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/242997-DSC_0216bw.jpg

http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/243002-DSC_0275bw.jpg

and 7mths old last friday
http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/243031-100_2226.jpg

[shouldaeloped]

Hi everyone! I am trying to keep up with reading but the whole updating thing doesn't seem to work too well.

shaq- Javan is too cute and you always have the best pictures taken. I love the one with the little tie!

luxia- welcome! your kids are very cute!

teething- DD has her two bottom front teeth. other than sucking her lip constantly and major drooling, she really didn't have any teeting signs either.

crawling- not yet but she's thinking about it for sure. she rocks and gets on her knees but doesn't really know what to do once she's there. we really need to child proof cause it's going to happen any day.

solids- we started close to 5 months. she does rice cereal and just about every fruit and veggie very well. the only exception is green beans. I don't like the way they smell anyway!

sitting up- she started sitting up between 4 and 5 months and does a great job. it's made playing with her a lot more fun since she can really play back now.

#2- we are going to start trying as soon as AF returns. neither DH or I are spring chickens so we don't want to wait. I am still nursing DD but I thought for sure AF would have made her appearance by now. anyone else still with no sign of AF?

losing temper- I know I've done it but I've blocked it out of my memory. the mommy guilt is bad enough for me. I had to work late last night and she was sleeping when I got home and I still feel like I did her wrong. I know it will pass at some point but it's pretty hard.

6 months stats- 14 lbs 5 oz and 27 inches long. I think I have a peanut on my hands!

I hope everyone is doing well! it's good to keep up to date on all our babies growing so fast! can you believe they are closer to one year than they are to newborn????

[Pink_Converse]

So I just found out why DS has been so whiny (other than his cough of course) he's getting a tooth! He's been fussing so much today that it dawned on me to check for that and sure enough I feel that little sucker poking thru! He's also been waking up every night at 2-3 am and thrashing around and crying like a madman so I guess that's why. My little man is gowing up, sniff, sniff...

Luxia-Welcome!

[steviem]

Hi ladies,

Thank you all very much for your kind words. I am glad to know I am not the only one who has done that :o

Jbenny: At the 6 month WBV my ped said that we should begin to put DS to bed when he is still awake, instead of letting him fall asleep while nursing. Looks like we are trying to do the same thing. I don't think you should feel bad at all for leaving DS in his crib. He wasn't crying and was probably really enjoying stretching out in his comfy bed, listening to soothing music. Think of how nice it feels for you to lay in your bed, just relaxing with the TV on. It's the same thing, so try not to feel guilty :)

[Luxia]

Thank you for the welcome!

[jbenny75]

Jbenny: At the 6 month WBV my ped said that we should begin to put DS to bed when he is still awake, instead of letting him fall asleep while nursing. Looks like we are trying to do the same thing. I don't think you should feel bad at all for leaving DS in his crib. He wasn't crying and was probably really enjoying stretching out in his comfy bed, listening to soothing music. Think of how nice it feels for you to lay in your bed, just relaxing with the TV on. It's the same thing, so try not to feel guilty :)


Thanks for that! I like looking at it that way!:)

[Ryan]

Luxia Welcome!

Shaq: Love the photos and the one where DS is in a tie is adorable!!! And yes I meant to say 18 lbs and 10 oz.. LOL... slowly losing my mind.

Have a good day ladies...

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Hope all is well.

Quick question... for those of you doing food, does your DC eat "meats"? Troi will scarf down fruits, sorta eats veggies - depends on which one - but meats, that's a bitter fight to the end. Nikolas was the same way and to a point still is. He ABSOLUTELY LOVES veggies but he barely eats meat.


I had to break out the 12 month clothes today. 6-9 is not extremely small, but they are pulling a little and they don't usually make 9-12 so out they came. I thought they'd be too big, but they actually fit him well.


And, I got a work at home part time job with LiveOps. I applied about 6 weeks ago and finally started the orientation last night. I'll just be working evenings and a few hours on the weekends. I'm excited to start and have some extra $$.

Ok, gotta run, need to go out and get a phone for the office. Have a great day.

[IzzyJune2006]

solids/meat
At 6-month WBV the doc said to go ahead. We started meat at 7 months. She's had chicken, turkey and salmon. She ate the chicken like no other. So we're not having any issues there. She also eats the baby yogurt and seems to like that too. She's probably on about 2-3 little jars on food per day.

sitting up & crawling
She has mastered sitting up and keeping her balance. She has been creeping for a while. She is now on all 4 and is no longer rocking. She makes a couple of steps here and there but isn't mobile. She can go back and forth between sitting and crawling position on her own.

teeth
She has two bottom teeth! She had stopped putting things in her mouth at that point but has started again so I'm expecting more teeth.

temper!
Of course I have lost it. Are you kidding me! With the lack of sleep, the stress or FT work and daycare, the crazy commute, living with the IL's... anyway I know I shouldn't allow my crazy life to affect her but it happens. I give her my all, so I don't feel that I'm a bad mom. It's just hard sometimes and I've come to realize that I have limits. I am not superwoman. :(

[Mystikal]

Welcome, Luxia! Your DD was born the day before mine, and on my birthday! :D She's beautiful.

Losing Temper
I've come pretty darn close. The other morning DD was up at 4:15am and would not go back to sleep. I tried rocking her and I knew she was tired because she was resting her cheek on mine. Then I laid her down and she was fine for a bit, and then she started crying. (DH is working 3rd shift now so it's just me at night, and DD has taken to waking up way early in the mornings no matter what time she goes to bed.) I let her cry for a bit hoping she would fall back to sleep because I was just so tired from staying up late doing laundry. When she didn't go back to sleep I went and picked her up to put her in my bed hoping she would calm down. I didn't even cuddle her when I picked her up, just held her away from me and then laid her down and she started crying harder. Every time I picked her up she cried, but when I Put her down she cried harder. I tried putting her in her bouncy chair so I could shower and she was fine for about three minutes and then she started fussing and crying. I stood in the shower and snapped "can't you just give me ten minutes to shower in peace?" Then I cried. I was so stressed. I never get to shower alone anymore, she's always in the bathroom with me. I look like crap for work every day because she won't let me fix my hair or put makeup on. Anyway, when I got out of the shower and looked at her little face wet with tears I felt horrible for being so crabby. I picked her right up and gave her all kinds of kisses.
Being a mother is hard. Really, really hard. *sigh*

Anyway, sleep question.
DD used to be the best sleeper. She would go down around 8:00 at night and sleep straight through until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. Then she moved her bedtime earlier to around 7:30, but still slept through till 6:30. Then, the week before Christmas she started waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 ready to start the day. I would try letting her lay in her crib hoping she would fall asleep, but no luck. I tried turning on lullaby music or her womb sounds bear or her light up crib toy with no luck. I just resigned myself to the fact that she would be an early riser. Now this week she's started waking up at 2:30, then again at 4:30 or 5:00 at the latest. Once she goes back to sleep around 3:00 or 3:30 I've been awake listening to her and that hour of sleep is probably not helping me any. Any suggestions or ideas or anyone who is struggling with the same issues? Please? I start classes for my bachelors next week and I can't keep doing this. I'm going to burn out.

[jay&erinn]

AF: I can't remember who asked, but AF hasn't shown up here either. I'm perfectly fine with it for now. I think AF can stay away as long as you're nursing. My cousin didn't get AF back until her son turned 13 months.

Losing Temper: More with Mia than Ayla. Sometimes that 3 year old attitude really angers me. Unfortunately the guilt has never gone away for me. I still feel horrible after putting Mia in time out.

Mystikal: I wish I had ideas for you. I could use them myself. I'm co-sleeping in an effort to get more sleep. I'm taking classes towards my doctorate and working part time, so I just have to get through. I have the month of April off of class, so I'm going to try and sleep train then. I hate waiting that long, but I don't have the energy right now.

teeth: None yet. Mia didn't have them until 10 months. With BFing, I hope they stay away for awhile.

Shaq: Beautiful pics!

#3: No plans as of now. Mia has some other ideas though. She has been on a kick that DH needs to have boys. I'm not sure where it came from, but she's talked about it for about a week now. I keep telling her that DH had 2 wonderful girls and that he's happy. She said that DH asked Santa for a boy for Christmas. The next night she lifted up my shirt to hear the baby boy in my belly. The other night when she started asking again, I asked her how we would get a boy if I didn't want my belly to get big again. She said we would just have to go to Target and get him. Apparently they sell EVERYTHING there.

[Pink_Converse]

Mystikal-DS started fussing a lot more and waking a lot more at night and I discovered he's teething. Could Julia be teething or getting ready to? Now if this behavoir becomes a habit after he's done teething I'll be back in here begging for help, but I think that's what it is.

bbl

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

That was me that asked about AF and I so jinxed myself :( I went to the bathroom yesterday (around 2 pm) and saw something (which pi**ed me off cause I wasn't prepared so a pair of panties bit the dust). Anyway I put on a panty liner cause I wasn't really sure. Nothing happened.
I woke up this morning, laid in bed with Nikolas and was fine. Got up, got the boys dressed, put them in their chairs in the kitchen for breakfast and all of a sudden felt really *wet*. I went into the bathroom and there she was :(
So after 16 1/2 months she's back and she's making up for lost time :/ I am super crampy, bloated and miserable.
Weird thing is I don't think my milk has been affected. I'm also wondering if because Troi is getting 3 meals a day and I'm not nursing as much if that's why it came back :confused:


put DS to bed when he is still awake, instead of letting him fall asleep while nursing.

I tried this last night because for the most part I nurse Troi to sleep. Well it was very traumatic for both of us. He was in the pack & play in our room so he wouldn't keep Nikolas up. He was fine for about a minute or so and then the crying began. It wasn't bad when he started, it was more like a whine. It then became intense so I went in there with him.
I calmed him down and tried again. It then became intense immediately. We let him cry for a few minutes and Brian went in to give him his pacifier. As soon as he left the room, he lost it.
We waited a few more minutes and then I went in. I laid him on the bed and he tried to nurse through my shirt. So I let him nurse and he drank like he never ate before but he didn't fall asleep. I put him in the pack and play, left the room and thought he'd be ok. He was for about a minute and then it sounded like someone was torchering (sp??) him. He was crying so hard that he was gasping.
I went back in and I laid on the bed with him and had to put him up against me and lay with my cheek on top of his and hummed hush little baby to him. He finally fell asleep.
I don't like to hear him cry or make him feel like we've abandoned him but I did this to myself. He'll get up a few times during the night and won't go back to sleep unless I nurse him. I know it's going to be a long road to break him of that :/
I also have to remember to do it with naps too.


Nikolas woke up at 10 last night and had a 100.9 fever. He ended up sleeping with us I ended up getting beat up with him the bed. So I'm crampy and in pain, today is going to be a good day :rolleyes:


Anway, gonna run, I've taken up enough space. Have a good day.

[Pink_Converse]

Ok, I had to go clean up vomit AGAIN...

H has been vomitting since yesterday evening and did last night and this morning too. He's still accepting liquids tho so I haven't called the Dr. He's whiny and clingy-he's thrown up out of the blue like he's nauseous but he's also vomitted from gagging on his toys, teething ring, etc. so I can't tell what is up with him. We've been up and down all night so we're so tired! He's not running a fever or anything either. I'll be doing alot of laundry today. I really need my baby carrier today but it's air drying right now. I just got a Yamo and I already had to wash it because I dropped a diet coke yesterday while wearing H and it exploded all over my kitchen-literally. Every surface including the ceiling, crown moldings, appliances, etc. and the both of us. It even went into the breakfast room. It was a freaking NIGHTMARE.

[Mystikal]

Pink I don't think it's teething. DD got two teeth mid-December and didn't act like this at all. I don't see any signs of upper teeth yet, either. I could be wrong, though. ;)

[IzzyJune2006]

I thought it was fun to watch the video of Troi crawling. I thought I'd share our first appearance as well.

Annabelle had been making first steps for a few days now, but today she went for long stretches a couple of times.

http://www.dropshots.com/photos/207410/20070111/163159.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/videolink.php?userid=207410&cdate=20070111&ctime=163159&showVideo=1)
Photo Sharing (http://www.dropshots.com/) - Upload Video (http://www.dropshots.com/) - Video Sharing (http://www.dropshots.com/)

[maryanne]

lolI like how she winds herself up into the crawl like a cartoon. too cute!

[shaqangel]

Izzy how cute!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

well last night we put Javan to sleep without swaddling...it wasnt such a struggle but he woke up TWICE. ugh. i hope we can break the habit. it honestly is so much easier putting him to sleep swaddled and knowing we're guaranteed x-amt of sleep but i'd rather pay for it now than later.

[Dan's*Girl]

My poor little man is really really sick ladies and I have some questions.

Peyton has Brochilitis, DOUBLE ear infections, a cold AND RSV. Im most scared about the RSV. I was reading about it in my What to expect book and it said it was dangerous and highly contaigous but other than that i dont know much. Has anyone else delt with it? :(

I did the post baby chop last night. I know its late but I couldnt take having my hair in a ponytail everyday anymore. So now its chin length and layered at the bottom. I love it so far but its strange to always be in my face. LOL

Im 28 today, woohoo!

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D


Izzy She is just too cute. You sounded like you were going to cry, a good cry though :) Don't you just love dropshots? I have a ton of video's up there for family to watch.

Dan'sGirl HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Sorry Peyton isn't feeling well. I know Mackenzie (kmmommy) had RSV but I personally don't know anything about it. Hope he's feeling better soon.


Well I have to run. We're going to a toddler exercise class today.

[Pink_Converse]

Izzy-That was too cute. I can't wait for Hayden to crawl!

Dan's-Sorr Peyton is so sick. Try to have a Happy B-day. It's my best friend's 28th too!

[ruby]

Dan's Girl-RSV is the most common cough-type virus this time of year and most full-term babies do fine with it. It's dangerous to premies and babies with asthma mostly because it causes respiratory distress, but most of the time it just results in a persistant cough for a week or two. Hope the little cutie is feeling better real soon!

[IzzyJune2006]

Happy Birthday Dan's Girl! I hope you are able to find ways to make your DS feel better. So sorry to hear that he is sick. Hope he recovers quickly.

sleep We've made a lot of progress in 2007. Annabelle now sleeps in her crib all night long. She still wakes up to BF from time to time. I hope that can become more predictable. We are tackling one issue at a time. We had to resort to CIO. Surprisingly it wasn't as tough as I had imagined. She learned very quickly.

Shaq: I think you're right. Whatever we can improve while they are still young will be better in the long run. It's so hard not knowing where you can really make a difference!

Weird teething symptoms... My niece gets bad diarrhea and diaper rash when she get a new tooth. It sounds uncommon but many people have told my sister that they have that experience. Pink, hopefully H gets better soon!

[Dan's*Girl]

Ok, these are so adorable they make my heart ache.

My little man

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/354989973_256f9f7f14.jpg?v=0

Cutie
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/354989975_3407117e29.jpg?v=0

Reading his book!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/354989971_386eedde98.jpg?v=0

[Niko&Troi]

Ramona He is just too cute :D

[kaelynsmom]

izzy: that video is too cute. Glad she came around to starting to crawl. DD is nowhere close, and it seems that she is so scared to even try it. She absolutely hates tummy time, and she screams to the top of her lungs! I'm trying to be patient with it though.

Dan's:So sorry to hear about your DS having RSV. I am a peds ICU nurse, and it is RSV season right now. We have patients on ventilators due to RSV. Just make sure that if he runs a high temp, and starts wheezing and turning blue around the mouth, take him to ER right away, or call 911. It's very dangerous when they have trouble breathing. I hope he gets better soon!

Gotta go and take DD for her flu shot!

[maryanne]

Thought I would drop by and actually post a hi to everyone! I read along everyday, but I am usually laying on my side breastfeeding the munchkin while doing it, so posting isn;t easy

Regarding sleeping (or lack of!) --we are in the same boat, not that dd has ever slept thru the night, but she is up more often nowadays.

Listening and talking with you makes me think that this sleep interuptus is normal for this age. Look at how many of us are commenting on it.I just try to roll with it.

I am still trying to feed on demand as much as possible. DD gets probably 1/4 of her food from formula and the rest via moma. I have actually seen an increase in my flow since I went to Boston in Dec and we spent alot of time snuggled up. Our BF relationship is better than it ever was,especially since we had such a rocky beginning. I have no plans to stop in the near future. I'd love to go until Mel weans herself, but we will see.

We haven't started solids yet. Her (late) 6m WBV is next week so maybe after that.

My hubby is still looking for a new job after the layoffs that happened in Dec. We are at the critical point right now, b/c after this week , we won't be getting the severence check anymore, just unemployment which won't cover the bills and we lose the insurance as well.

He has an interview on tuesday, so wish him luck. My mother's surgery went well and I think that it took care of that issue in her health problems.

DD is adorable and reaches out for everything and rocks back and forth like a blind blues singer when she hears music makes me crack up. she rollsover front to back and scoots alot too. No real crawling yet, I think she might just skip that stage and start walking. She seems much more interested with that. This is probably so she can be the dominator of the two little kitties we got at christmas --with crawling she would just be another one of them! lol!

lots of energy in this house.I went from being home sick while pregnent with my feral kitty who I rarely ever saw, to a house with a baby, a husband and three spastic cats!

arrgh--calgon take me away.

love to you all and your babies

eta--mel finally has eyebrows! and just a little but of peach fuzz for hair. I should have named her Sinead!

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I *think* we broke Troi of having to fall asleep eating, however, he still needs one of us to be with him while he falls asleep. Baby steps...

Since this has happened he has only gotten up once at night. Keeping my fingers crossed that this continues on this track and then he'll start falling asleep on his own.

Have a great Sunday.

[maryanne]

go pats!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/357222115_4f6a258064.jpg?v=0

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

Hope all is well with everyone. Nikolas has a horrible cold :( Troi hasn't gotten it yet and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

So Brian is in Pittsburgh today seeing the doctor at the V.A. to get approved for his lap band surgery. I'm on pins and needles waiting to know if he's going to be approved. Hopefully we'll know something later this afternoon.

Other than that, I'm sitting here waiting for Verizon to come connect the new phone line so I can start working. They were supposed to be here yesterday between 8 and 5 but never got around to me :mad: Yep, you read that correct, they never got around to me so they just bailed on the appt :mad: So being they did that, the connect fee will be waived.

Well gotta run, Troi just woke up. Hopefully I'll be coming back later this afternoon with good news about Brian. Keep your fingers crossed please.

[Dan's*Girl]

Ladies I have some questions about food.

Ive been getting a lot of negative comments about how I feed Peyton, from family, friends and co-workers who say I am holding him back from developing.
Let me show you what I do, then ill ask my questions.

Breakfast- 2tblsp rice cereal, 1 jar level 2 fruit, 2-4oz formula
Lunch- Bottle 6oz
Dinner-2 tblsp rice cereal, 1 jar level 2 veggies, 2-4oz of formula
Bedtime- Bottle 6oz

Of course he eats normally another 2 60z bottles over the course of the day between main meals.
Im not comfortable yet giving him finger foods like bananas, those melt in the mouth puff things, mashed potatoes etc. I also havent thought of giving him the dinners in a jar, ie.. turkey and rice, or beef and carrots.

People are saying he should be eating table foods by now and the dinner meals and that Im being overly cautious about his food.

Do you think I am? Should he be eating more solid things right now? What are you giving your DS/DD that Im not?

Im confused and a little hurt that I might be holding Peyton back from developing.

Thank you for your replies.
Have a great day!

[jay&erinn]

Dan's Girl: Ayla's only 3 weeks younger than Peyton and he's eating tons more than she is. I don't think they're ready for table food until they are pretty good at the pincer grasp. Ayla still spits out a lot of the food we give her and will still occasionally gag on stuff and she's only eating stage 1s. Their main source of nutrition should be formula or BM, not solid food at this age. It's just for practice and fun. I wouldn't worry about it for at least another month. I always blame the pediatrician when family questions my judgement- it helps;)

[Niko&Troi]

Ramona First thing to remember is that you are Peyton's mom, not them and you are doing what's right for your child. IMO and according to my ped, you should not give actual table foods until he's at least 11 - 12 months old cause he still can't swallow that well. Mashed bananas or potatoes ok, but nothing else IMO. If you choose to that is your choice though, but if you're not, that's ok too. Those puffy things, the can specifically states that they shouldn't eat them until they can pick them up on their own with their index & middle finger.

If Peyton doesn't seem like he's hungry then he's probably not. Don't stress it. Everyone has an opinion about your child. I used to hear all the time that I should let Nikolas feed himself, he won't learn how to use utensils. I never did, and I never had to clean up plates of food off the floor either. He uses utensils perfectly fine now.

Here is Troi's day of food (all jar foods are 2nd step):
7 a.m. he nurses
9 a.m. 1 jar of baby cereal
Mid morn nurse
Noon 1 jar fruit and then nurse
Mid afternoon nurse again
4:30 1 jar veggies (he hates meat) and 1 jar fruit
nurses the rest of the night

When we finish these 2nd step foods we're moving onto 3rd steps because he is still hungry sometimes.

In the end though he is your child. When people tell me what to do with either Nikolas or Troi I say in a stern but not rude voice, "That may be what you did with your child, but this is my child and this is what I'm going to do". They usually don't mention it again. You could also say "thanks for the advice". And the last thing is to put it all on your husband, "DH wants to do it this way so that's how we do it". No one will ever question a man on his decisions except for his mom and then he needs to tell his mom that Peyton is your child... I'm sure you get my point.

Hope I helped a little. Gotta run, Nikolas is done eating his cheese hot dog for lunch. Let someone tell me about how hot dogs aren't healthy for kids :D :p

[shaqangel]

Dan's*Girl Javan certainly isnt eating that much either. we havent fully started fruit yet (he's just eaten mango and prunes).
the only solids he gets is cereal and veggies for lunch and dinner (one for each meal). he wont eat cereal in the morning and on some days he'll have nothing to do with it. my doc said not to worry cos he should mostly be getting milk anyway (he's still BFed).
my friend's baby is 2wks older than Javan and he will not eat any cereal, veggie, fruit or basically anything. he'll have nothing of it. her doc said its fine and not to force him.
each baby is different and you should just go with your instinct. i'm not comfortable with Javan eating table foods either and we are definitely taking the more conservative approach to solids.

[IzzyJune2006]

Ramona, I agree with pp. You seem to be doing the right thing. Try not to listen to others too much. Every kid is different.

Our peds said at Annabelle's 6-month WBV that she was ready and could be fed all the pureed stuff (meat included, keeping in mind the typical nono's). But that was for Annabelle, that doesn't mean all kids are at the same point. When I asked about the amount of food vs BM, she said to feed her until she refuses. I have to admit that I've only gotten to the refusal stage a couple of times. Most of the time I just stop because it seems like too much. Now I worry that she is not getting enough BM/formula. Her consumption has gone done since we've been on solids.

She eats:
lunch (2-4 oz): oatmeal, veggies or fruits or meal (usually a combo)
dinner (3-6 oz): oatmeal, veggies or fruits or meal (usually a combo)
She loves baby yogurt too. So she gets that sometimes. We've started a little bit of diluted prune juice to help with periodic constipation. We're practicing drinking from a cup with water, but she doesn't really get much.

The finger foods are tricky. I've tried a few times but we don't do it regularly. Some days she disolves them well, others not. So I am super careful. We should probably wait a little longer on those.

I think the main concern for feeding at this point is iron. The iron-fortified formulas take care of it. But for breastfed babies, they need the meat or cereals that can provide iron.

Sorry for the long post... another first this week... she now claps her hands together (isn't it kinda late for this milestone?). Not on command, but on her own. So cute!

[jbenny75]

izzy I don't know when they should clap, but I've been trying to get DS to do it and he hasn't yet.

dansgirl You are doing fine! DS is still on purees. Once in awhile, I try to give him a cracker and he just can't chew or swallow something like that yet. There's no way he's ready for table foods. Like PP have said, formula or BM is still their main source of nourishment now. They are only supposed to be starting solids at 6 months, so how could Peyton be on more advanced foods already? It sounds like you're feeding him the same things my DS is having, except he has a solids meal at lunch, too.

Breakfast:4-6 oz formula, 2 tablespoons cereal w/ 2ozs fruit
Lunch:4-6 oz formula, 2 tablespoons cereal w/ 2ozs vegetable
Dinner: 2 tablespoons cereal w/ 2 ozs vegetable
Bedtime: 6-7 ozs formula
Two nighttime feedings of 6-7 ozs. formula

[shaqangel]

izzy javan isnt clapping. i've tried to teach it to him but he just laughs at me :rolleyes: he does shake his head to say no. he probably doesnt know what he's doing though he does say no when someone asks him something.

Javan is still not crawling but gosh he definitely has a way of getting were he needs to! he scoots prettt fast and does get on his hands and knees but i honestly cant describe the way he moves! its pretty cute though.

[gina73]

crawling - Not yet, but it's going to happen very soon I think. All of a sudden Brady's pulling his feet under him and getting to his hands and knees, then rocking vigorously back and forth. I'm so not ready for him to crawl. But then again, he will be 8-months old next Monday, so I shouldn't be shocked, I guess. The other day I had him sitting in the bassinet part of the PnP, and the little bugger grabbed hold of the sides and pulled himself on to his knees. Scared the crap out of me! Guess we won't be doing that anymore.

clapping - Brady just today started slapping his hands together, not really a clap but more I think because the toy he WAS slapping his hands on fell to the floor. I don't think he's even close. In some ways, like the gross motor skills stuff, Brady seems right on track for a full-term baby. But the other fine motor skill stuff, like articulating with his hands, he's behind on. He doesn't mimick me at all really, no matter how hard I try. And he doesn't really babble yet, more just shrieks and "oooooh"s. Is this normal, or is he just really far behind?

teeth - has everyone's babies gotten their first ones yet? I think Brady might be getting ready to cut a tooth soon. Or at least that's what we hope. Our giggly, happy and content baby that slept through the night without a peep has suddenly turned in to this drooly, whiny and grumpy baby who wakes up crying from every nap or nights sleep and cries in the middle of the night. It's making us think "who is this baby?". Does this sound like teething? Please tell me this doesn't happen with every tooth!

food - we're being really conservative too. Brady's schedule is like this:

6:30ish - nurses
9:30ish - nurses, then gets 2-3 tbsp cereal and 1-2oz fruit
12:30 - nurses
3:30 - nurses
5:00 - 2oz veggies
7:00 - 7oz bottle of EBM

Am I not feeding him enough? He's fallen off the growth chart, and my supply is tanking yet again (pumping MAYBE 2oz at a time in the evening when he's sleeping). I'm totally freaking out that he's not getting enough to eat. Yet his ped and the LC's I've talked to seem to think everything is fine and normal. And he doesn't seem hungry after he nurses. I wanted to make it to a year, but now I'm thinking if I can make it to 9months I'll be OK with it. Not happy about it, but OK. I don't know if I can keep this up - the worrying and pumping and all. Ugh. Help! Sorry to sound like a broken record. I thought this BFing stuff was supposed to get easier right? Someone slap me out of this funk!

[IzzyJune2006]

babbling Annabelle isn't much of a talker. She's very quiet. She has days where she seems to try to babble, but most of the time she's quiet. I worry too about this. She's exposed to many languages so we realize it might take her longer than others to start talking (though I don't know if that should be reflected now). When she cries it's the mmmmammmmammmma that comes out, but she doesn't link it with me.

BFing Gina, I have to admit that I was excited to start with solids so I wouldn't have to worry so much about my supply. On the flip side, now I worry that she gets too much food and not enough BM/formula. I've cut down my pumping at work to once per day, which feels very liberating. I just can't imagine at this point ever stopping! Hang in there... you can reach 1 year.

clapping It seems that everyone (MIL, daycare) has been trying to get her to clap for months. They're all excited. I can't get her to do it, she just does it on her own.

dancing When do they start to dance? Annabelle seemed interested in a song on tv and was shaking a toy in rhythm but I think it was a coincidence.

Ok, so with all of our winter weather and the Holiday, I've been able to spend so much time with her. I'm finally getting to know her and she is starting to show more of a personality. It's crazy how much a love can keep growing... and she's not even 1 yet. Wow. It's tough being a working mom.

[steviem]

Hi ladies,

I hope everyone is having a good week.

Owen is finally getting better. He had a cold 2 weeks ago, which turned into a double ear infection. Poor baby. He is almost back to normal, but is still a bit on the "needy" side. I think he got used to me holding him so much when he was sick that now, he doesn't like to play by himself in his exersaucers, etc. (which he used to love.) It makes it really hard to get things done.

He is still not sleeping through the night. In fact, he is sleeping worse than ever. He is up every 1.5-2 hrs and it is driving me nuts. For the last week, we've been letting him sleep in our bed. He seems to sleep so much better when he's with us but I don't want him to get into this habit. It's a catch 22.........

One of my New Year's resolutions was to join a mom's group, since, I am now "officially" a SAHM. So, I signed up and went today for my first playdate at a park. I felt like I was the "new kid" in school. I can't believe I was actually nervous! Anyway, I show up and NO ONE WAS THERE! I was stood up!! It was actually kind of funny. So, I took Owen on the swings and he had fun. I ended up meeting 2 other moms and they belong to another play group so they are going to include us on their next park playdate. :)

Dans Girl: Yikes! The idea of giving my DS tablefood scares the heck out of me, and I consider myself more agressive when it comes to solids. DS has been on solids since 4 months. He only has 2 bottom teeth- I can't imagine him chewing anything yet. Anyway, here's a typical menu for Owen:

Early Morning: Nurse
Breakfast: 3 Tbs Oatmeal Cereal w/ 3 oz of Fruit Puree
Mid Morning: Nurse
Lunch: 2 oz Fruit Puree and 2 oz Veggie Puree
Mid Afternoon: Nurse
Dinner: 3 Tbs Rice Cereal and 4 oz Veggie Puree (usually 2 oz each of 2 different veggies)
Before Bedtime: Nurse

At the end of the day, you are his mom and you know what's best for your kid ;)

[amurphy]

Gosh, I haven't posted in quite a while! I just caught up with everyone's posts and I must admit that I'm relieved that my baby isn't the only one who is suddenly struggling with sleep. It is a shock to have a baby who slept through the night at 10 weeks suddenly waking every two hours. Thankfully, it seems that after a week of bad sleep, he is getting back to his normal pattern. He has had a cold/ear infection plus bad constipation. Now that the cold is clearing up and he is pooping again, he is so much happier...and so are DH and I!

Dansgirl: I hope your son is feeling better. It is so scary when they aren't feeling well. DS had a 103 temp over NYE weekend and it was heartwrenching to see his sad little face.

Crawling: Nope. Don't see it happening for quite a while. He loves sitting up and he leans very forward to get his toys (belly on his legs), but hasn't made any move toward crawling. When he is on his belly, he lifts his torso so far off the floor that he almost looks like he is sitting. Pretty funny. He much prefers standing (assisted) to anything else. His chubby legs are so strong. I wouldn't be surprised if he followed in his Dad's "footsteps" and skipped crawling.

Clapping: He isn't clapping either. He is very into slapping his hand of different surfaces to hear the noise but hasn't clapped yet.

Babbling: Now this is something that DS does all the time. It sometimes sounds like he is saying full conversations. This morning when DH was getting DS ready for daycare, it sounded like Declan said, "Who loves you, Dada?!" He makes us laugh all the time with his grown up sounding babble.

Eating: I'm not rushing solids either. DS just isn't into them...except for peas. He's eat peas every meal if we let him. I still nurse on demand when I'm with him but his schedule is more predictable the three days he is at daycare:

6:30 a.m: Nurse
9:30 a.m: Bottle (5 oz. EBM)
12:00: 2 Tbs. cereal & 1/2-1 jar of veggie or fruit
1:30: Bottle (5 oz. EBM)
3:00: Bottle (5 oz. EBM)
5:00 nurse
5:30 1/2 jar veggie, 1/2 jar fruit
6:30 nurse
8:00 nurse before bedtime

Somedays he doesn't take his third bottle at daycare. And these times are set in stone. Last night was the first time I gave him a "combination" meal of spinach & potatoes. He has also had a few teething cookies and a couple Gerber puffs.

[shaqangel]

oh boy....what a night and morning :mad: Javan woke up at 2am and then was up again from 3-4am... Just wanting to be awake with us in our bed NOT in his room. I'm not a happy camper right now. the no swaddling thing is getting to me. he's crying right now not wanting to nap and i've already picked him up once (i know i shouldnt have). i'm at my wits end. i really want to just swaddle him but we said we're going to stick it out. I NEED HELP. PLEASE!!!! this is so hard for us. we were definitely so spoilt with him sleeping through. what can we do to make nap times and night time sleep better.

Babbling non-stop and LOUD!!! he wakes up saying da-da-di. its pretty cute. oh and last night he just wouldnt stop laughing. it was so funny!

dancing no actual dancing yet but whenever music comes on he moves his body. he really does like music alot. we are starting Kindermusik next week. should be fun for him to meet more babies.

anyways i'm so tired of hearing him cry that i want to pick him up :(

ETA: I caved and picked him up. I just cant handle this.

[jbenny75]

babbling DS makes noise, but does not babble with consonants (Dada, Baba, etc.) the way they are supposed to according to what I've read. Most things I've read also say that they should start to be able to sort of have a conversation-they say dada, you say it back, they repeat what you say, etc. He doesn't do that at all. I try not to worry too much about it and I'm trying to convince myself that all babies develop differently, but that's easier said than done.

teeth DS doesn't have any yet. I'm thinking it could be soon, though. He was pulling at his ears, being clingy/crabby, and having a hard time sleeping. I took him to the ped today to make sure that he didn't have an ear infection and he was fine, so it's got to be teething.

crawling I also have no way to describe the way DS moves around sometimes, but he does get around. Sometimes and more often now it is a real crawl. I took the legs off of his Leapfrog table so he could play with it on the floor and he crawls up on top of it. He also will have his hands on it, be kneeling in front of it, then straighten his legs and just stand there like that playing. It's so funny. He has actually pulled up to standing, but it was in the bathtub, so I had to make him stop-too dangerous. One of our friends lost his little boy (4 years old) in a bathtub accident. The little boy's stepmom had gone out of the bathroom to check on something, came back and found him unconcious. No one knows what really happened but they think he fell and hit his head somehow. So I am super paranoid about that. If I try to get him to pull up at the couch or with his push-behind walker thing he wants no part of it.

shaq I wish I knew what to tell you, but DS has never STTN except for one short period of time when he slept from 7pm to 5am, but that didn't last long. Hang in there!

[jbenny75]

Can anyone relate to this?

I just need to vent. I love DS dearly, but I do need a break once in awhile. We are far from family and I have ONE babysitter (my stepmom), so I don't get that break very often. Recently, DH has had time off of work where he can help me out a bit. And he has-he did the laundry and some other stuff. The main thing that I would love, though, is to just be able to sleep in and not get up at 6 with DS, just maybe once every couple of weeks or something. Last week, I pushed DH out of bed to get up with him and today he volunteered, so I give him credit for that. Both days, I didn't get to sleep anyway, because I can hear DS crying and whining. I hear him in his Jumperoo and I can tell by his cry that he's done and he wants out. What do I hear for the next twenty minutes? DH saying what's wrong buddy? what do you want? I don't know what you want, bud. DUH-he wants to get out of the freakin' Jumperoo! HELLO! Both days I got up to a crabby DS and when I question DH, I find that he didn't feed him. WTH. Both days I had told him he would take a bottle before his nap, but assumed that DH knew he ate a solid meal every morning when he gets up since he watches us do it ALL THE TIME. I guess that was my fault for not spelling every little thing out for him. I just feel like I can't get a break, ya know? Even when DH is helping, he can't handle it.

[Niko&Troi]

Hello All :D

jbenny I can relate but in another way. We have absolutely no relatives close to us (they're all about 4 hours away). Brian is amazing when it comes to taking care of Troi, he'll let me sleep and do what he's supposed to.

However, when he takes care of the boys, nothing else gets done. Like putting the milk back in the fridge or throwing out what's ever left on Nikolas' plate or cleaning out the bib that Nikolas used (I usually find food in it the next day :rolleyes: ) or leaving baby bottles on the back of the couch behind the cushions and I find them a day or two later (need I mention the smell of rotten formula). And when you change the boys, why can't you take the 5 steps to the closet and put their clothes in the hamper?

And yet the past 3 nights he's done the dishes for me after dinner. So...

I appreciate the help, but when I have to come behind him and pick up after him, well I really didn't get help then :/ It will be interesting to see how things go when I start the p.t. job here in the house.


Vent away girl. Men don't seem to realize that even though we had these kids 7+ months ago, we're still trying to get used to it and it's exhausting. You should try to get away for a night. I knew Brian sorta had a clue of what I did but wasn't really 100% sure. I went away in Aug for a night with the moms from Nikolas' play group. Brian was alone from 3 on Sat to noon on Sun. He was different when I got back, he sorta knew.



As for us, Nikolas has been sick all week, horrible cold. Well last night he couldn't breath so he was up A LOT :( First at about 3 because he lost his binky then in our room waking up Brian at 4:40. In the interim Troi got up a few times to nurse so lazy me let him sleep with us. I put Troi back in the crib after Brian put Nikolas back to bed hoping to get some sleep and Nikolas wanted to come in our room :/ So we then had him in bed with us. Brian put him back into bed around 6:30 and we thought we'd get 5 minutes of sleep but of course not, Troi woke up. It's going to be a long day with a sick, tired, cranky toddler.

Well gotta run, I need to head out to the dr.

[Pink_Converse]

jbenny-I can totally relate. DH still won't give him a bath alone because he's scared and doesn't "know how" even tho he's seen me and been taught how to do it. The child is 8 mo. old--he's resilient! I think it's just a cop out. He doesn't seem to know what to do sometimes to take care of him either, it's like he doesn't pay attention at all. I don't have a lot of babysitters at all either and since I am a SAHM I think DH thinks even when he's off fi nding a babysitter and getting time on my own is MY problem. No that he's said that but he says that I have all day every day to do what I want and he only has two days a week off and a couple of hours before bed after work off and basically he wants to do what he wants to do when he's off since I have all that time to do what I want. What I want? Hello, is anybody home? I do what the BABY wants. If I run around I have to drag around a baby and plan my day around his needs. Dh does not get that. This is a very sore subject for me. He will babysit while I go to a movie or something but I can't always find someone to go with when I have a babysitter. Dh's life hasn't really changed. He's in a band and he still practices 2x a week and plays 2-3 shows a month that I can rarely go to because of lack of a babysitter. SO to make a long story short YES, I understand how you feel and it sucks!

edited to add: Niko&Troi DH can't do anything else while watching DS either but can't understand when I don't get certain things done he's asked me to do.

[amurphy]

shaqangel: The sleep thing must have something to do with our children's age! DS has always been a great sleeper...but that changed around Christmas time. Instead of STTN, he had a few nights when he was up almost every two hours. It was awful and stressful. For DS, I think a lot of his issue was his tummy/introducing solids. I've read that it can take a while for their systems to get used to digesting solids...and, really, we started to be more consistent with offering DS solids around the holidays. Anyway, this week DS seems to be getting back on track with his sleep. His naps are returning to their normal pattern and he has only woken once in the night the last few nights. He does wake up a few hours into his night sleep but only cries for a minute before falling back to sleep. Phew! Good luck, Shaq. I, like you, can't stand to hear my DC cry and have a hard time not rushing to pick him up!

jbenny75: I hear you! My DH is a great husband and father...but I have to "help him, help me." For example, he gets the baby dressed in the morning but I arrange DS clothes because DH "can't find anything" in DS' closet and dresser. It isn't worth me explaining (again) how the clothes are organized, so I take the outfit out and put it on the changing table. Then, right after DH finishes dressing DS, I ask, "Did you wash his face?" Now, why do I need to ask this every morning? I don't know. But I do know that DS' face won't get washed unless I ask the question! These are just a few examples. Also, DH can't get much else done if he is taking care of DS. Loading the dishwasher? Nope. Laundry? Nope. Start dinner? Nope. But I guess I'd rather he take good care of DS than good care of the house even though I somehow manage to do both. :rolleyes: One last thing, DH got me a cleaning service for Christmas. I have to say that it has done wonders to relieve my stress AND allows me to cut DH some slack.

[kaelynsmom]

jbenny: You have a right to vent away! I can empathize with you in that end. DH is a great father, and a great husband, and as a matter of fact, he is on the overprotective side of DD. I give him tons of credit since I work the night shift 3x/week, and he's the one who gives her baths and puts her down to sleep when I'm at work. However, I am the one who prepares her feedings, and gets her pajamas ready before I leave for work. He is wonderful with her, and really is proactive in forecasting what her needs are. However, DH has never once washed a bottle, or prepare a feeding for her. Nor has he done her laundry and help me put it away. But I accept it, and he does all the other chores around the house when I'm with the baby. I think DH has a mild form of OCD because all he does is clean the house. He vacuums everyday, and mops our floor every other day. I love him for that, and I guess it's a give and take situation. Hang in there, things will get better!


Babbling: DD is a "constant chatter":D Sometimes when it's nap time, she just babbles away, until she falls asleep. She started saying "mama", now she's combining other syllables like "maba" "daba" and she does this chanting thing with me, where I start off chanting and she'll do the same thing. She also immitates the "huh?" sound when I do it. pretty funny.

Immitating: DD hasn't been able to immitate "clap hands" but she can immitate slapping hands on lap, and when I crinkle my nose, she'll do it as well.

Receptive Language: Whenever I ask DD, "Where's your______?", she'll look at it and smile. For example, I ask "where's your balloon?" and she will look at it and smile hysterically. When I ask, "where's daddy?" then she'll look around the room and say "huh?" as if really looking for him. I'm working on having her point when I ask for things, especially when we are reading books.

Crawling: No crawling yet, and she won't even attempt to. I think she will skip crawling altogether and move to walking. She loves to stand, and she can pull herself from sitting to standing with minimal assist.

Turning over: She started this at 5 months, and now I feel like she's regressed because she wont do it anymore. She ABSOLUTELY hates tummy time, and when I put her on tummy, she'll cry bloody murder, and she can't figure out how to turn herself to her back. Sometimes I let her cry it out, but she gets really upset, and I give in and help her turn over. Anyone else experiencing this?

Well, gotta run! Hope all is well with everyone!

[jbenny75]

Thanks for the supportive posts! Boy, did I feel guilty for posting that- right afterwards DH helped me get DS packed for Gymboree and then going to visit my parents. He also got me some flowers, but I'm not sure if he gets 100% credit for that because he only got them because he was buying flowers for the wife of a guy he works with who is leaving their company. They are taking him out tonight since this week was his last. They bought him a gift and the wife flowers. Yes, it's couples going out except for me because I have no babysitter, of course. So I can identify with you pink on that front. I also feel like his life has barely changed. My life runs around the baby's schedule and if we don't have a babysitter, I stay home. Most of the events involve his friends or an event for his job, so it wouldn't make sense if I went without him. My DH also doesn't understand why I can't just pick up and go and do whatever I want. He also needs help whenever he takes DS for me, like your DH, amurphy. It's always- "I need a bib" "where is this?" "where is that?" Who does he think gets up and runs to get me a new bib?:rolleyes:

I think DH has a mild form of OCD because all he does is clean the house. He vacuums everyday, and mops our floor every other day.

OMG! Where did you find him? Do you realize how incredibly lucky you are? My DH is the polar opposite. I think I'd give ANYTHING for him to be that way.:)

[maryanne]

so..it is official, I have a tall, big baby! She had her six and a half month visit today and weighed in at almost 19 pounds and is 27 inches long! :) nintieth percentile on both.

we moved into size four pampers b/c her huge cuddleable thunderthighs are too big for the threes. She still has no belly, just rolls and rolls of leg.

***

friends- four out of the nine members of our wedding party are getting married within 8 weeks of each other this summer, not counting two others close friend's weddings that also happen then! So there are lots of things that are taking precedent over me babbling about the baby. I am grateful about that though, b/c my life truely has become so limeted, that at least I can live vicariously through them and have something non baby related to talk about.

babytalk- melody has taken to rockin and *dancing* whenever she hears music. (sometimes it even involves headbutting!). she coos and shrills to it too. very funny!

great news!--josh got the job!!!! :):):)

he got hired as a consultant but after six months will become a regular employee....and get this, He DOUBLED his salary ! and that is only his base pay :)

it is crazy how it all happened. he posted his resume on monster and got a random cold call from a recruiter on friday. the job was not even publically listed but the recruiter had an inside lead on the postion .(he is friends with the owner) . The perfect candidate was described as someone from josh's old company who would then be the company's liason between their tech people who are trying to use the newly created software system and josh's old place where they developed it.. the crazy thing is their are only maybe two other companies worldwide that make comparable software systems that he specialized in and at his old place there probably only was 15 people tops that worked on it- so the chances that the new place would actually be able to find someone who had intimate knowledge of the program was next amazing, let alone someone who helped design it.

j is thrilled. He gets to interact with his old team whom he loved, while working for *real* company where he makes the money that he deserves and has some major advancement opportunities.

It is in the City, so mel and I will meet him in town for lunch alot and then go play :) The cool thing is that I don't have to go back to work, and we will be able to eat , pay bills , and have some left over--unlike now..lol! I am not kidding that when I say that we were just barely scraping by since I unexoectantly stopped working last march. we had maybe $200 a month left over after paying bills and we still had to eat and gas up the car etc. The last two months were scary, not knowing what was going to happen. But now, things are looking good!

<doing the happy snoopy dance>

[Mystikal]

I'm trying to convince myself that all babies develop differently, but that's easier said than done.
I know what you mean. DD is still not rolling over and it's driving me INSANE!! She rolled over maybe twice with a little help from me and refuses to do it. I've tried everything and she just grins and then ignores me. :rolleyes: She is sitting up on her own, and when a toy falls out of reach and she falls forward trying to get it she attempts to crawl to it, so I try not to worry too much.

Dans*Girl don't even listen to those people. YOU are Peyton's mother, and YOU have the final say in how he is raised. You need to get him one of those onsies that say "please don't give my mom any dumb advice. She's doing fine on her own." ;)

As far as what DD is eating:
Breakfast: rice or oatmeal cereal w/half of a stage two fruit
midmorning before nap: 6-8 ozs of formula
Lunch: stage 2 veggie and usually stage 2 fruit
mid-afternoon before nap: 6-8 ozs of formula
Dinner: we just started giving her stage two meats. She really likes the turkey and sweet potatoes.
evening before bed: 6-8 ozs of formula

:)

DD is nowhere near clapping, however, when I ask "where's dada" she always looks right at him and grins. She makes a lot of noise, but still isn't using the consonant sounds. Supposedly she did say "dada" at my moms earlier this week.

Oh, and something scary that happened while my mom was watching her this week. DD was playing with toys on the floor and reached for one and she fell sideways and landed on her arm, then she went forward and hit her head. (Not hard, as she had already landed on her arms) but it scared her so much she started crying. My mom picked her up and she just couldn't catch her breath. My mom said her lips turned kind of blue and she passed out for about three seconds. Then she woke up and was fine. :eek: Anyone ever hear of this before? She didn't even have a mark on her head so I know she didn't hit it hard. :confused:

[amurphy]

mystical: geesh, that is so scary! She probably just got too worked up or had the wind knocked out of her. Yikes!
You shouldn't worry about J not rolling over. I tell myself not to worry almost every time I read this thread and see that some babies are doing things that DS isn't even close to doing. All babies are different. (Just keep repeating that to yourself). :D

maryanne: congratulations to your DH and you! That is wonderful news. What a huge weight off your shoulders, huh?! Your DD and my DS share almost the same measurements. She must have an extra roll on her thighs that puts her 1/2 oz. ahead of him. ;)

[jay&erinn]

mystikal: I'd call the ped just to make sure that everything is OK. I'm sure it's nothing, but I'd want to be sure if my baby lost consciousness even for a few seconds.

As for being worried that some babies are doing some things and others are not- it's become a really competitive world. But if you look at the big picture, things even out in the end. When they hit preschool, no one will even care if your baby rolled over at 3 months or 7 months. My friend's little girl didn't walk until 18 months (and that was with some therapy help). She's 2.5 years now and you'd never know she was behind at one point. And FWIW, my DD could run circles around her, but her DD could talk circles around mine;) .

[Dan's*Girl]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/362663000_08f32b6e58.jpg?v=0

I thought that was cute!

So I went out and bought peyton his new car seat last night. It was kinda sad because that means he is growing up so fast.
We got this one, it fit him the best and it transitions up to 80lbs, which in Missouri it is the LAW now that kids be in a booster in the back seat until they are 80lbs.

Alpha Omega Elite
http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-2996706reg.jpg

Peyton Update~
He is doing so many cute things these days. Yesterday he started giving kisses. You know the kind where he leans in with his mouth open and you kiss him. He did get me with his tounge a time or two, silly boy. LOL
Also he is scooting. Not on his belly, but when he is sitting up he twists his legs and makes it across the room without falling over, its really cute. It also reminds me that I need to babyproof my house like NOW!
I really dont think he is going to crawl at all, he pulls up on the couch and on me to a standing position, but is really wobbly after that. He looks so proud when he does that. HeeHee
Here is a pic from yesterday when he had the apple/blueberry breakfast and got his hand in it and all over his face. Too cute!
Not to mention the "I cant believe your taking a picture of me like this" look on his face!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/362679841_70192c05fd.jpg?v=0


Jay&Erin~ Congrats on the new job and being able to stay home! :)
Mystikal~ Dont worry about her not rolling over, Peyton isnt hardly anymore either or crawling. Some kids just skip that stuff!

Thanks everyone for the kind words about the feeding. I agree with you all that he seems to be doing fine the way we are. :D

7.5 month Update

23.5 Lbs & 28inches

WOW:eek: I think i have the biggest kid here.

[kaelynsmom]

I got DD a tickle me elmo doll, and she loves it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7ddkZ_E_78

[maryanne]

23 and 1/2 lbs! how is your back doing with that?

cute tickle me elmo video

[Baby Lust]

Lucas was weighed yesterday at his dr appt and he is up to 18 lbs 8 oz. He is such a skinny baby! :p He has quite a few fat rolls and his tummy is pretty round. He eats like crazy too! So I'm not worried! :)

He is getting his second toother, though the first has just barely poked through. You can hardly see it but you can feel it.


Crawling should be coming very soon! He also pulls up on things so I'm sure walking isn't too far off! Ack!


BFing is still going strong! I'm actually surprised we have made it this far, with the problems we had in the beginning, but I hope to reach my one year goal, even if we end up supplementing here and there in the next few months.

Solids are going well! He dives for the spoon when he sees it coming! Very cute!



Hope everyone is doing well! I can't believe how fast this is going!!

[Mystikal]

Ramona my youngest sister did the scootch thing and never crawled.

I'm so glad to hear that I shouldn't be worried about J not rolling over or anything. *sigh*

She has started "walking" while holding our fingers. Actually, she kind of drags her feet as she takes steps. She also learned a new trick tonight while I was feeding her dinner. I kept saying "mama" over and over. She must have gotten sick of it because she started sticking her tongue out at me every time I said it! lol. I got a picture, I'll have to post it when I get it uploaded.

[jbenny75]

How are you getting your housework done?

My house is just overwhelming me. It's getting to the point I just feel hopeless and I'm just giving up. I tried writing a list, but it just made me feel worse because I couldn't get to any of it. On a good day, DS takes two one hour naps. I usually have enough time during the morning nap to take a shower and get dressed. During the afternoon nap, I eat lunch and take a break. That leaves no time to get anything done. He goes to bed early, 6 pmish, but then either I have to make dinner or if not, I just want to sit on my butt. Am I lazy for that? I don't want to do housework while he's awake, because he's only going to be a baby for a short time and I'm not going to waste that time cleaning. I want to play with him and spend time with him. I guess that means I have to learn to live with my house being a total disaster. When I get a chance I have DH take care of him so I can clean, but it seems like days when that will work are far and few between. I was going to do it tommorrow, but now I have to go grocery shopping because we have no food in the house. DH goes back to work on Wednesday. With me staying home, we can't really pay for a cleaning lady and I can't really justify it to myself either. I wanted to vent here, because when I mentioned it to my mom and grandma they both said- "Well, you're home all day long. How can you not get anything done?" I love these people who think a SAHM mom just lounges around all day doing whatever she wants.:rolleyes:

[Pink_Converse]

jbenny_ I swear we are living parellel lives! Before I stayed at home I had that high and mighty attitude too about SAHM's not cleaning and boy do I feel dumb now. It's hard! When I clean this is what I do:

Clean the gameroom while he is playing in his exersaucer. He loves that thing. Clean his bedroom while he's playing on he floor and I'm talking to him. Clean my room while he's in his PNP. None of this all gets done in one day. Kitchen-DS plays in his highchair while I load the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. I'm lucky if I get one room done a day. Floors don't get done unless I wear him on my back and he will only tolerate that for maybe an hour before he gets bored. If he's asleep in my room I will clean the upstairs bath. Everything else generally looks terrible and either does not get done or I do it while I could be spending time with DS and DH on the weekends. DH is pretty much no help in the cleaning dept. but will keep and eye on DS while I clean (gee thanks) or tells me *I* have OCD and should sit down and not clean but then wants to b!tch when he can't find stuff. The previous poster who said their DH has OCD is a lucky woman! I swear my house was way cleaner when I worked because I knew I only had so much time to do it before bed and I didn't wanna do it on the weekends so I did a little every day after work. Now I have that "I'll do it later. I have time." complex so nothing gets done. I have no motivation at all sometimes and I feel guilty if I'm not giving DS 100% of my attention too. I feel like he's growing up so fast and I'm scared of missing it too.

[Niko&Troi]

Hello all :D

The cleaning post came in as I was doing laundry. I just do it when I can. I guess I'm lucky cause I have very light beech items in my house so the dust doesn't show that much :o I literally use the Swiffer duster and go over everything in about 20 minutes. I do an actual clean (removing the items, wiping off the actual items, etc) maybe once every 2 - 3 months.

I make sure that there isn't clutter in the house. All the papers that need to be filed (we still don't have a filing cabinet) sit on the desk in one pile. The dishes get done every night before we go to bed so I don't have to look at that mess in the morning. And the kitchen counters/table a quick wipe down. I also make sure the clothes are put away and I make the bed every morning. So overall even though the house isn't spotless, it looks cleaner and I don't stress over it, for the most part.

I'm the most anal about the bathroom. That gets cleaned almost every other day but even then it's usually only the sink and toilet. The tub, when I think of it.

However, the floors are a different story. We have very light beech laminate floors (we had the furn first and then got the floors and they match, too much, anyway) and two black haired dogs. I literally have to vacuum every day. Troi sometimes sleeps through that, if not he's in his exersaucer, usually while Nikolas is eating breakfast and bad mommy post here, they're in front of the tv - usually during Sesame Street. I don't like to put him down on the floor until I get the hair up. I was sick this weekend and Brian didn't vacuum so he crawled around in dog hair. Not a lot but more than I would let him.

So that's what I was doing. I started working that p.t. job and I'm not sure how my schedule will be. I'd like to work M-F 7-11 and Sat & Sun for a few hours. If I see in a few months that the $$ is flowing good, I'll break down and get a cleaning service. Right now it's sorta easy though cause Nikolas entertains Troi so I can clean and I think of it as brotherly time together :rolleyes:

I was vacuuming on Sat and my arm was hurting. Brian was kind enough to offer to buy me a new vacuum, one that's easier to move :mad: Gee thanks for the offer, maybe you can push the vacuum once in a while...


Anyway, so Troi thinks he can walk. He'll be hanging onto something, turn and let go and then he goes down. He's hit his head more times this weekend than I think Nikolas has his whole life. So Brian and I have come to the conclusion that with all these head bumps, he won't be curing cancer. I saw the picture below and thought it might not be a bad idea...
http://www.onestepahead.com/images//product/Detail_Main/10062.jpg


Well Troi just woke up so no cleaning for that power nap :) Ladies, they do grow up before you know it so I know you're like me, but try not to stress the mess. It will still be there, but your 7 month old won't in a few days. Have a great day.

[amurphy]

Cleaning: I've been accused of having OCD more than a few times but I can't stand a dirty house. It makes me anxious...and seriously annoyed at DH who could get hit in the head with a huge dust bunny and still not notice that the house needs dusting! Before we got our cleaning service, I did the majority of the cleaning on Saturday morning. I don't let the house get too dirty during the week so the big weekend cleaning only took an hour or two. DH does the dishes every night and we (I!) pick everything up in the evening so we start fresh in the morning. It is a lot though and I think the best advice is to do the best you can and try not to stress.

On another note, isn't it funny how our babies pick up a new "skill" out of the blue? The weekend DS decided he is all about food. I can't get the spoon loaded up and back in his mouth fast enough! Last week, I was practically forcing the food on him. He also decided to figure out the whole "pincher grasp" and now loves his Gerber puffs (except when they get stuck on his arms, palms, etc. and he can't get the puff in his mouth). So, mystical, you never know when our babies are going to decide they are ready for a new trick. J may start crawling tomorrow for all we know, right?! :D

[Pink_Converse]

maryanne-I forgot to say CONGRATULATIONS on Josh's job. It's going to be so nice not to be stressed out about money. There is nothing worse than that to me!

[shaqangel]

Cleaning: i cant stand a dirty house. when we first got married it didnt take dh too long to figure out how serious i was about a clean house. every friday and saturday i wanted to clean and i couldnt go anywhere until it was all done. that got old for him really quickly so he started leaving work early on fridays to clean the house so i wouldnt stress him about it!!! so he really is a big help in that area. he does that bathrooms, floors and kitchen (dishes really) and i do the rest of the house and we both do the laundry. he's actually started doing the baby clothes too but i usually put away all the clothes after its been folded. we kind of split everything up on week-nights so we dont have to do a major cleaning on the week-ends. some days we do let the house go but for the most part we try to keep everything picked up and neat so at least the house appears neat and tidy. it is really really hard though to focus a good 3 or 4hrs to finish up the whole house so thats why we split it up over 2-3 days. we fold laundry while we watch tv, put ds in the bumbo or activity ctr while we clean the kitchen or bathrooms, usually one of us has to hold him while we vacuum cos he cant stand the vacuum. i really do wish the house could be spotless like it used to be but i have resigned myself to the fact that it wont until we're done having kids and they are past the baby stage!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the sleep issue is getting better, though i wont count this morning as a better day!!!! we were out at a friends home last night and only got home around 1am (ds was asleep from 10:30pm). he woke up once we got home, ate and usually he would go right back to sleep - not this time. he played until 3am!!! yep...so guess who had to stay up til then??? at least he slept until 10 am though so that wasnt too bad but i'm still tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what activities do you do with your baby?
just wanting some new ideas!!!
right now we spend as much time on the floor with him just playing with him. we let him crawl over us and play. we read alot and go outside for brief periods - he loves being outside. i'm also teaching him baby signs (of cos he just smiles at me and thinks its funny!) this week we are starting music classes and i want to get back to the gym and take him into the pool since he loves water so much.

[Niko&Troi]

Ok, so I came in to read posts and saw that Maryanne's DH got a job. I then realized that I've missed a ton of posts :eek: The last one I read was from Pink about DH's not helping :/ Not sure why I wasn't getting any updates :/

Anyway, congrats on the job for Maryanne's DH :D Way cool for the extra $$ too :D

So the boys are asleep and I'm sitting here online instead of cleaning :) Yes the house does need cleaning, but the net is more interesting :) And I need to watch everything I DVR'd last night :D

[IzzyJune2006]

House cleaning...
I agree with pp. I too could never understand SAHM that didn't have time to get anything done until I had DD. Now I get it! I'm not a SAHM, but I feel your pain.

Thanks for sharing all of your current experiences with upkeeping a home. It's still a couple of months before our house is ready. We've been living with the IL's. They are not charging us any rent, so I figure the least I can do is hire a cleaning lady. I've been pretty lucky that I'm able to focus my attention on DD when we're home. But despite all that, I still find it extremely challenging to manage my time and get things done. Let's just say that these advantages don't necessarily make up for the inconvenience of staying with the ILs!

I have no idea how we'll manage once we move into our own house again. There's no way we'll be able to afford a cleaning service. If I'm lucky, I can get DH to help. He will vaccuum every once in a while if I ask and he's not busy doing something completely useless (to me anyway!).

activities
I can't think of anything out of the ordinary. She likes to play with the empty diaper box. She is now into trying to stand by grabing onto ANYTHING! So she's standing in her crib very often now when she's awake.
We just leave her to play with her toys. The ones that she doesn't care about one week seem to become her favorite the next week.

Maryanne, congrats on DH's new job!

[maryanne]

Thanks Izzy!

Cleaning--I HATE clutter and my hubby is the biggest, sloppiest pack rat that I have ever seen. It was a constant battle for years, and now with adding all the baby's crap in the mix, I am going bonkers!

The very very best present that I recieved (with the exception of a homemade quilt) is a cleaning lady service once a week courtesy of Josh's grandma. She was in the service and had Josh's mom in Japan. They had a maid and to this day she still raves about how much that lady helped her. So thanks to good help 50 years ago, I get help now :):):)

So to be honest, I don't do any cleaning with the exception of dishes, bathroom wipedowns, laundry, and decluttering---the rest I leave for her. But I swear , it is hard even doing just that when Melody always seems to be wanting something or hungry :(

Josh is the cook and therefore does the shopping since I just "don't do it right."..lol!

[jbenny75]

lorrainne You made me LOL with that comment about Brian offering to buy you a new vacuum that is easier to push. So typical of a guy.

pink We might be married to the same man!! :
DH is pretty much no help in the cleaning dept. but will keep and eye on DS while I clean (gee thanks) or tells me *I* have OCD and should sit down and not clean but then wants to b!tch when he can't find stuff.

That is SO my DH. And like someone else said, he never notices when things are dirty. One day I lifted up a toilet seat to clean it (it had been awhile since I had last gotten to it) and it was completely disgusting. Now, the man lifts up that seat every day to pee. He doesn't see that it needs to be wiped off? He can't grab a piece of toilet paper and wipe it down? :rolleyes: I swear my DS will be taught better than that. Another reason to have issues with my MIL-for not teaching DH anything-but that's a whole 'nother issue. He did help a lot with housework for awhile after DS was born, but that has come to a complete halt.

Right now, I just try to keep things as neat as possible. I don't get much real cleaning done.:(

activities We have tons of toys to play with from Xmas. Right now, we're using playtime to work on crawling and pulling up. We go outside for a walk most days. I have a book called "Baby Play" from Gymboree and when I can't think of something to do, I pick something from that. He loves Baby Soccer, which is me holding him under the arms while he kicks a beach ball. I try to read to him everyday. I would like to find some sort of CD that we can sing along to. We go to Baby Storytime at the library and Gymboree.

[steviem]

Hi ladies!

Maryanne: A big congrats on the job for your DH :) What wonderful news.

House Cleaning: I too, am a total nut about having a clean house. I often think of how I should be spending time with DS instead of cleaning, but I can't help myself. Dishes are done every single day, as well as a load (or two) of laundry. I also vacuum everyday...we have hardwood floors and you can see every single speck of dog/cat hair so I have to do it everyday. DS only takes short naps during the day (40 min in the morning and 1 hr in the afternoon, if I am lucky). After he wakes up and I feed him breakfast, I put him in his exersaucer and I clean the kitchen and empty all trash cans, etc. I normally then throw in a load of laundry. DS then takes a nap, so I take a quick shower. During his afternoon nap, I try to fold clothes and when he wakes up, I vacuum. I make dinner in the late afternoon when he plays on the floor. This is usually the hardest time of day to get anything done since he tends to get fussy.

My "big" cleaning day is typically Wednesday. Before the baby, I could do the whole house in 3-4 hrs but now, it takes almost the whole day as I have to stop all the time to pick-up DS as he can only stay occupied in his exersaucer for so long.

Activities: DS spends time in his exersaucer, and I play with him on the floor a lot. Our "new" thing is to go to the park. I try to take him 2-3 times per week. He is too little for most of the activities, but I do put him in the baby swing and he loves it! He loves being outside so I need to get better about taking him for daily walks. I was doing it for a while but then I got out of the habit.

[B]Sleep Habits[/:B] I mentioned in a few posts back that DS's sleep patterns are horrible. He was getting up 5 times per night these past few weeks. He has never STTN except for maybe once or twice several months back. Anyway, DH and I decided that we needed to start to let him CIO. We had never done this in the past as I cannot bear to hear him cry for more than a minute or two. We've done it for 3 nights now, and I think it is working!!! He woke up briefly last night and cried for 30 secs and then went back to sleep. He woke up once more (at 4am) and I nursed him, but that was it!! What a huge improvement. I hope it lasts.

I hope you are all well and that you have a great week. Owen turns 7 months this weekend...... I can't believe it.

[Pink_Converse]

I always think about how I will make DS learn to help out around the house so his wife will be happy with him ;) .

[gina73]

Hi everyone! Maryanne - congrats on DH's job!

Brady turned 8-months old today!!! I really can't believe it! Since he was also born on a Monday, I kept thinking all day long "This time 8 months ago we were doing x". It was fun. Still not sure whether he's hitting milestones for a term baby or for his actual birth date - some of them are on target for full term, some are a bit behind. We're still dealing with a supply issue, and I'm trying to lighten up about it, but that's easier said than done. My (revised) goal of BFing now is 9months, which at the moment seems doable.

housecleaning - DH is somewhere between lazy and helpful. Granted, as soon as he gets home, Brady is his, so I then have time to catch up on some cleaning. But I usually want to spend time with the two of them. I have to admit, we've gone SEVERAL weeks without getting the floors swept or vacuumed. Now that Brady is getting a bit more mobile and crawling is just around the corner, I've been trying to do this once a week. It's the mopping of the hardwoods that I just don't know how to squeeze in. DH is really great at taking out the trash, making the bed in the morning and loading/unloading the dishwasher. He's also requested taking over laundry duty on the weekends when I have a class (score!). What he's lousy at is taking the evening bottle back to the sink or fridge (like N&T, I've often found bottles in random places the next morning), taking out the Diaper Genie (instead of stuffing it to the gills), and cleaning the bathroom. jbenny - your comment about the toilet seat could have been written by me! Basically for cleaning I just do a little bit any chance I get while Brady is napping or after he goes to bed. I've vacuumed while he's in his exersaucer, which he really loves to watch.

Activities - we do alot of sitting and reaching for toys, practicing standing and playing in mirrors. We dance around ALOT, read a ton too. Every morning DH has a routine with Brady where he picks him up out of his crib and shows him stuff in his room (the animals on his mobile, his chick night light, the fabric quilted artwork on his wall. He absolutely LOVES it and gets tickled every time. He likes watching cars too, so when the weather is nice we sit out on the porch and count cars, point out colors and make noises.

[kaelynsmom]

No real time to post, but here are Kaelyn's 7 mos photos!

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/35.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/11.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/29.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/8.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/poynoy214/3.jpg

[IzzyJune2006]

kaelynsmom Gorgeous pictures! She looks so darling.
I can't wait to see how ours turn out. We did the tutu as well.

[maryanne]

she is absoultely adorable!

now i want tutu pics! I like the floral one too

[Pink_Converse]

Kaelyn in so pretty!

[Pink_Converse]

edited out photos

[maryanne]

omg. he's such a cute monkey!

and I have to ask, where did you get that t-shirt?

[Pink_Converse]

Thanks! My sister bought it for him @ Target for like $4. I don't think they have them anymore tho. His Daddy is in a band so it's really cute!

[maryanne]

i have to find one! :)

[Ryan]

hey guys.. I love all the photos.. so darn cute!
Pink: His eyes are so beautiful.
Kaelyns: She is gorgeous.. and love the photos...

I know I have to catch up... but as for house cleaning I think I am with Shaq and Amurphy... the big joke w/ my girlfriends is that I am a compulsive cleaner... drives me crazy.. and we have a yellow lab and I cannot stand the hair everywhere so I am constantly dusting and vaccuming. Dh is a bit of a clean freak too.. BUT he is surface clean... example.. he would hate seeing shoes in front of the couch .. so instead of putting them in the closet he would shove them under the couch... stupid things.

Emily started to stand... which is funny to watch... and I know we were all chatting about food.. I see some of you are feedinng the cookies and puffs.. I was thinking of it.. but too scared.. anyone else feel the same way...

I know I have missed alot but I hope all is well...

[Ryan]

We still cannot use snapfish or shutterfly to post our photos right??? grrr

[shaqangel]

Ryan try flickr or photobucket. we're taking it kinda slow with the foods too. i havent given him the puffs yet maybe in a month or 2. i dont see the need to just yet.

Pink Cute pics and love that T-shirt too - i bet his dad thinks its the best t he owns :)

kaelynsmom beautiful beautiful pics! that one with the tutu is gorgeous (as are all). i loved the video too!

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well javan chewed the USB chord for the camera so we had to order a new one....nice right. i have to watch this kid like a hawk!!!!

http://www.totsites.com/totimages/2132/264028-100_2334.jpg

http://www.totsites.